Category: Volunteer Opportunities

Reach Out and Read is a nonprofit organization that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.

They are hosting a 5K on August 25th to raise funds to help more children in Kansas City! You can support their cause by participating in the run or, of course, by volunteering! Check out their website for more details on the race, and contact Jenny Horsley (913-588-2793) to find out more about volunteering.

Happy Monday!

Villa St. Francis Catholic Care Center, located in Olathe, Kansas with easy access to Overland Park, Lenexa, Gardner and Shawnee,  provides residents with all-embracing senior living assistance, including long term support, short term rehabilitation, and skilled dementia care.

They are always looking for volunteers for a variety of roles. One that recently came across my desk is for the position of Flower Attendant. They could use someone to water their flowers to keep their campus beautiful and fragrant everyday! What a great way to help out an amazing organization and spend some time outdoors. Check out the link for more information and click here for all of their volunteer postings.

Happy Volunteering!

The Veterans Community Project (VCP) is on a mission to eliminate Veteran homelessness by providing transitional-housing and enabling access to exceptional 360-degree service solutions. Focusing first on the Greater-Kansas City area, VCP aspires to use Kansas City as the blueprint for achieving similar successes in cities across the United States. VCP has a long-term goal of eliminating Veteran homelessness nationwide.

Through contributions and partnerships, they are creating Veterans Village — a community of transitional tiny-homes and onsite services to provide housing stability and address the underlying cause of the Veteran’s homelessness. This combination of housing stability and onsite services will lead to more successful permanent housing outcomes.

In contrast to traditional homeless services, a tiny-home provides the Veteran with privacy, a sense of security, and the ability to reintegrate at a comfortable pace. Veteran services are facilitated through an onsite community center that provides the Veterans with mentoring, case management, counseling, and linkage to other programs and services.

Check out their website for more information and to find out how you can volunteer through assisting at their Outreach Center or with Construction of Homes! And check out this CNN article too!

Happy Volunteering!

Amethyst Place provides safe and supportive housing to women recovering from addiction, which means providing housing to their children as well. They serve 50-60 families and over 100 children each year. A family who is accepted into the program receives 24 hour supervision, collaboration with community based case managers, as well as on-site therapy in a supervised drug-free environment. Each resident develops her own individualized treatment plan in conjunction with a treatment team made up of case managers, DSS workers, and therapists and must work, go to school or attend drug treatment at least 20 hours per week.

And of course, they need your help! Volunteers can help with a number of things like childcare, mentoring, tutoring, event planning, and decorating apartments. If you can’t volunteer, maybe you can donate! They always need laptops for college students as well as furniture and household items for apartments.

Something to think about as you’re rejuvenating and spring cleaning!

To volunteer – Email Lindsay Harmon- lindsay@amethystplace.org

To donate– Email Laurie Evans- levans3138754@gmail.com or call the main office at 816.231.8782.

Food drive  – You can support our families by collecting non-perishable food items in reusable grocery bags. Click on this link for ideas, Food Drive for Amethyst Place.

Make a basket  – If you have a scout group or church group or group of friends, and would like to make a welcome basket for a mom or child, click on this link for ideas, Apartment Essential Kits for AP.

Support Amethyst Place while shopping Amazon  – Go to Smile.Amazon.com. Log into your Amazon account as usual.  Click the add Charity tab.  Search for Amethyst Place.  When you shop with Amazon Smile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to us.

Spring is a time for rebirth, rejuvenation, and renewal. How will you rejuvenate this spring? Maybe you want to add more meaning to your life through helping others? Maybe you need some pet therapy? Maybe both! Have you thought about volunteering at an animal shelter? Great Plains SPCA loves their volunteers and are always looking for people to help with cleaning, laundry, socializing the animals, and helping market the animals to the public!

Find out more here and get started today!

It is finally nice out! If you’re like me and you’re looking for any excuse to enjoy this beautiful spring weather, look no further than Bridging the Gap. Bridging The Gap works to make the Kansas City region sustainable by “connecting environment, economy and community,” and is the premier organization in the area providing environmental education and volunteer action through more than 1,500 volunteers annually. Here are some of their upcoming events:

KC Wildlands:
Volunteer: Ecological Restoration

Fri, May 04, 2018 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Maple Woods Natural Area,
2611 NE 76th Street
Gladstone, MO 64119

Recycling:
Urgent Volunteer Request: Recycling Center Volunteers (Flexible Shifts)

Sat, May 05, 2018 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Two Locations to Choose From,
Kansas City, MO

KC Wildlands:
Volunteer: Ecological Restoration Workday

Sat, May 05, 2018 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Rocky Point Glades,
Lake of the Woods Dining Lodge, Swope Park 7310 Oakwood Drive
Kansas City, MO 64132

Heartland Tree Alliance:
Volunteer: Street Tree Planting

Sat, May 05, 2018 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Volker Neighborhood,
1005 Valentine
Kansas City, MO 64111

Litter:
Volunteer: Tomahawk Creek Litter Cleanup

Sat, May 05, 2018 @ 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
Tomahawk Park,
3951 W. 119th St.
Leawood, KS 66209

Bridging the Gap is great too because it’s really easy to get involved. Check out their volunteer web page to see a full list of their events, and to sign up online!

Happy spring!

Uplift is a homeless outreach program in Kansas City with the following mission: “We who acknowledge God’s providence and fidelity to his people, especially those in poverty, do dedicate our efforts toward the support of those who are homeless. Our goal is to deliver those basic human needs, care and compassion that are not usually received from other organizations.”

Volunteers are needed to prepare and deliver meals as well as help in their distribution center.

Deliver Meals
Help deliver meals, clothing and necessities to the homeless. Uplift trucks ‘roll out’ at 6pm on Mondays and Wednesdays;  5pm on Saturdays. The average route takes 4 – 5 hours. Please call in advance to schedule your participation.
Contact: Pat Thomson 913-207-9391

Prepare Meals

Cooks are needed to prepare and deliver meals to Uplift for approximately 60 people.
Contact: Margaret Longstreet  816-739-4050

Distribution Center

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The second Saturday of every month they sort donations, stock our shelves, fold clothes and have a good old time doing it. All are welcome. This is an excellent service opportunity for elementary/high school students, youth sports teams and other organized groups. If you are planning on bringing a large group please contact first.
Contact: Call 816-241-0060 or Email upliftorg@att.net

 

Happy Volunteering!

Giving Hope KC is new to Kansas City, they opened February 24, 2018. Their mission is to give hope while treating people with dignity, respect, and love through their food pantry. See the flier below. Volunteers are always welcome! If you’re interested, contact Brandy Thompson & Vickie Lagle at givinghopekc@gmail.com.

DID YOU KNOW?

Safety-net programs such as SNAP (food stamps) and WIC (women infants children) do not cover diapers. This is a huge expense for low-income families costing an estimated $80-100 per month. 1 in 3 American families struggle to provide enough diapers to keep their babies happy, healthy and dry.

Without an adequate supply of diapers, babies spend extended periods of time in the same soiled diaper. This poses health risks to the baby, including diaper rash and potentially serious infections or even hepatitis. And being wet or dirty makes for an unhappy, crying baby, which causes family tension.

A 2013 study in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that moms who experience diaper need are twice as likely to suffer from depression and stress, because they struggle to meet their baby’s needs. The study found this stress ranks even higher than food insecurity.

At Happy Bottoms, their mission is to work with social service agency partners to provide diapers to low-income families while raising awareness of diaper need in our community. And guess what, they need your help!

 

Happy Bottoms has an online volunteer management system which makes it easy to give back. You create a profile, then can sign up for shifts online. Check it out here!

Happy Volunteering!